We’re getting closer. Five episodes from now we should know who killed Rosie Larsen, but until then, we have a mess of conspiracy theories, red herrings and Pez dispensers to go through before we get there.

Last night’s “Off the Reservation” did what a typical “Killing” episode seems to do, which is reveal new info while raising even more questions.

After Holder's beating last week, we learned that Nicole Jackson, like Wu-Tang, ain’t nothing to ... OK, you get where I’m going with that. So on Sunday's episode, Linden attempted to put a search party together for Holder, but of course was told she couldn't authorize that and had to go through someone higher up.

Speaking of Holder, Linden went over to his house, where Jack begged her to let the other cops take over the case. Yeah, not going to happen, Jack.

And whaddya know, Lt. Carlson, the biggest case blocker ever, denied the search party and told Linden they were too busy with tips inspired by Stan’s TV message.

Like any sane person, Linden went back to the reservation, where Nicole Jackson’s enforcer, Roberta Drays, let her know that she has no jurisdiction there. Linden insisted that the case would go federal if something happened to Holder. Of course, Carlson showed up with a team and told Linden they had until the tribe's lawyers got there to find him.

I'd wondered where that Pez dispenser was going to come into play, and voila: The search team found Holder’s prized Pez device, and sifted through a trashed area. While looking, Linden made eye contact with a little girl who pointed to the woods. The team headed in that direction and picked up a scent.

And in one of the more shady scenes from the episode, Jackson and her lawyers met Carlson at his car. For some reason, I’m not sure they were discussing the search. Carlson just doesn’t come off as someone to be trusted.

Back in the woods, the team found Holder alive, but barely.

In another press conference, Richmond talked about leaving the hospital, but all the press wanted to know was where he was the night Rosie Larsen died. Nope, he still didn't answer.

Over in Holder’s hospital room, our boy had contusions, broken ribs and was suffering from exposure. Linden called Jack to tell him that the guy he really wants to be his dad (that’s just me) is OK.

Meanwhile, Stan was at home, busier than ever fielding calls and taking notes from folks with information on his daughter’s murder. Tad Marek came over to take the boys, and warned Stan that the attention brought on by his televised bounty address could actually be bad for the family.Ya think?

Speaking of family, Holder’s sister showed up to support her brother after more or less ignoring him for the entire series. Of course, she was there to deliver the matchbook given to Holder by Mary the casino maid. “The first thing he said when I got here: Give this to Linden.” That answers everyone’s speculation of how Linden would get the note about meeting Mary at B.B. Hair Emporium at 11 a.m.

In the campaign office - and with very little time left before the election - Jamie told Richmond he has to come clean about where he was the night Rosie was killed. Probably thinking a press conference to announce something like, “Hey, I’m the suicidal mayoral candidate,” wouldn’t be good, Richmond again dodged the question.

At the B.B. Hair Emporium we learned a few things. It turned out that Rosie was a maid and sometimes a waitress at the hotel, but not a prostitute.

On the night she died, she wasn’t scheduled to work at the casino and was last seen by Mary going on the elevator, more than likely to the 10th floor for a smoke. Conveniently, the day after Rosie was murdered, Jackson had everyone’s 10th floor keys taken away. Both Rosie and Mary have chapped hands from the cheap cleaning chemicals they used.

So, did Rosie go up to the 10th floor and see/hear something she shouldn’t have? As Linden says in the preview for next week’s episode, the 10th floor is where it all started. But what?

Maybe it was a deal between Mayor Adams and Jackson about the waterfront, since Adams announced during a meeting at City Hall that he’d reached a deal to get the waterfront from Jackson’s people. Richmond showed up to tell him that he knows about the botched photo from the bridge, and Mayor Adams ordered Benjamin Abani to find the leak. I’ll say right now, Abani is on my list of top three suspects.

Back on the political trail, Gwen and Jamie decided that making sure Mayor Adams couldn't make his waterfront deal with Jackson was the key to Richmond winning the race. Hey Richmond, are you ready to off a 17-year-old girl for the win? Because I’m convinced that in some way, Rosie was the victim of something bigger involving money, power and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When she arrived at the station, Linden was approached by Stan, bearing his list of tips. She declined to entertain either one, and to make her day worse, Lt. Carlson was cleaning up shop in her office and took her badge and weapon with him. Ouch.

The bad news kept rolling in for Linden. When she arrived at Holder’s apartment, cops were there going through the place and Jack was MIA, which naturally freaked her out. She later found him at Regi’s dock, but there was no Regi in sight.

Back at the hospital, Holder shared a moment with his nephew when the phone rang in the background. Unlike most characters in the show, Holder actually answered the call.

It turned out to be Jack calling him and wishing him goodbye, as his mom was shipping him to Chicago to live with his dad. In one of the most awkward mother-son scenes I’ve seen in a while, Linden goes with the “Be strong” over the “I love you” approach. The look on her face showed that she’s finally realized the case is her life and her son is just secondary. Sad but true. I honestly don’t care if the character comes back.

Reunited and in the car together again, Linden told Holder that they needed to get Rosie’s key to the 10th floor.

So is Rosie’s murder part of a bigger plot? What we will find on the 10th floor? How much harder will solving the case be now that Linden is no longer on it, officially? And now that she’s set to return, where does Mitch fall into all of this?

soundoff(10 Responses)

Dhow Cruise Dinner in Dubai

HMMMMMMMM..,.,.,.,.,more than likely to the 10th floor for a smoke. Conveniently, the day after Rosie was murdered, Jackson had everyone’s 10th floor keys taken away. Both Rosie and Mary have chapped hands from the cheap cleaning chemicals they used,,.,.,thanks

Linden is such a horrible mother that it makes it hard to root for her to solve the case other than to wrap this mess up.
It's like watching a train wreck – you know it's awful but you can't turn away....

Just off the top of my head: 1. Holder gets beaten nearly to death, but is back out on the road with Linden one day later? 2. Rosie was working as a maid at the casino, didn't tell her parents, and somehow managed to keep that concealed from them? How? And why? 3. Richmond thinks he's going to win the election? How? Why? And whatever else we may think of him, when did he become that stupid? 4. Lt. Carlson (a/k/a Duck) hates Linden so much and is so intent on getting rid of her, that he doesn't bother to have her interviewed about the phone call she got while Holder was being beaten? Or Holder about the attack? 5. Linden and Holder are both allowed to go to the airport gate to watch Jack board the plane as if it were 1976?

I could go on, but why bother? The longer this show continues, the more implausible it becomes. Just seems like lazy writing to me.

Indeed. Lazy writing. One could say the reason Linden got to go to the gate was to e with her minor son, which I do all the time, and Holder got through with his badge, but they didn't bother to spend any time with that detail. Either way, he sure healed quickly from a near-death beating, which, incredibly, none of the rez people thought to go through his pockets and take anything incriminating, like, a matchbook with a message written inside? And he's near death, but well enough to tie up the loose end of getting the matchbook to Linden? Not buying it.

agreed – the plot is getting far too twisted and confusing. Makes you wonder if the writers even have a killer at the end of all this at all. We keep watching because we're hooked, but each episode gets more and more frustrating.

I honestly don't care anymore ! They've dragged it out way too long. I stopped watching the show after last week's episode and just read the weekly updates. (It's less frustrating and less of a waste of my time).

What I thought was WAY over due was sending Jack somewhere else - anywhere else - than the endless drudgery of motel rooms and being alone in that grey gloomy environment 24/7. She neglects him to the point of actual abuse, has no warmth whatsoever, frustrates the process of being with someone who actually has TIME for him, and then finally - FINALLY - realizes "you know what, maybe he shouldn't be with me." Ya think? The fact that no child welfare case workers came after her after she gave them the slip is unbelievable, as well. All we have to do is crawl out the bathroom window and drive away? Sweet.